Upgrading Your Tools

The December Westpak Tell-Tale
by Craig Tyler

Wand Upgrades: Glides. There are a few reasons to add a glide to your wand. First, if the material is Teflon then it's generally easier to clean with the wand. Easier meaning the Teflon glides over the carpet freely and easily with less restriction then stainless steel lips or glides. This will also help a carpet cleaner to have less stress and strain in his arm, shoulder, and back which will allow him or her to work more efficiently throughout the day.

The second reason is that the glide is designed to enhance the cleaning capabilities of the wand. This is done by creating enough air flow through the glide that it will maximize the power of the vacuum motor with the wand.

Now both of these reasons may be up for debate and glides have also been made from other materials. Feel free to share your thoughts about glides.

Wand Upgrades: Nozzle Extenders.

When you put a glide on a wand it raises the nozzles from the carpet. The solution to this is putting 1/2inch or 1inch nozzle extenders between the nozzle and the manifold. If you have 1/4inch nozzles you'll need to change from a standard vjet nozzle to a tjet nozzle. The Westpak Nozzle extenders come with a filter and an option check valve. As discussed in the filter post in November, this will help keep your nozzles free of clogging. Just remember, for every inch your nozzles are above the carpet you're losing 10°. So if you're looking at getting higher heat to the carpet, a nozzle extender may be the solution.